Win-Win Situation
by Earendil Eldar
Summary: After a tough round of fighting the latest alien menace to bother Cardiff, Jack decides he and Ianto need a day off to get back to normal. Lots of cuddles.


"I don't think there's an inch of me that isn't in pain," Ianto moaned.

"I'm sorry," Jack said, carefully stroking Ianto's hair.

"Not your fault. Think I'm a bit useless today though."

"I was planning on that," Jack said. "Calling it a day off, for both of us. You, me, not getting off the couch…."

"That sounds like heaven," Ianto said with a sigh.

"I'll make breakfast, your job is to be comfortable," Jack said, getting up.

"How much co-codamol do I get for that?" Ianto laughed shortly.

"Hurts that much?" Jack frowned.

"I'll be alright."

"How do you put up with it?" Jack sighed.

"I knew what I was getting into," Ianto said. "Though, maybe some things I wasn't expecting," he smiled.

Jack winked. "Breakfast…."

Ianto eventually decided to follow and get himself settled on the couch. It wasn't much fun lying in bed alone, at least he could watch Jack from the couch.

"You might be aching, but you're still gorgeous," Jack said, bringing a cup of tea and plate of cinnamon toast, bacon, and oranges to Ianto.

"You look rather nice in my kitchen in pajama pants," Ianto smirked.

"See? Natural pain management," Jack grinned. "How about I select a few DVDs and we just bunker in for the rest of the day? I don't think I've ever really been through your DVDs… I probably hardly know you. Not going to find any surprises in here am I?"

"What would surprise you, Jack?" Ianto laughed.

"Weevil porn," Jack said absently, perusing Ianto's videos.

Ianto was silent for a moment, then gave a shudder.

"Oh, there are worse things. Just… none you'd have heard of. Lot of mysteries… Hitchcock is good… Basil Rathbone."

"Yeah, I used to watch a lot of the _Twilight Zone_ as well. But Torchwood is sort of 24/7 _Twilight Zone_."

Jack chuckled. "Yep. Favorites?"

"All-time or genre?"

"Oh, all-time, of course."

"_Singin' in the Rain_."

"Done," Jack said, going directly to the "S" section of Ianto's alphabetized videos.

"Can I be terribly demanding and ask you to grab me a pillow before you settle? Back's got a twinge," Ianto asked as Jack popped in the DVD.

"I'll do better than that," Jack said. "Shift up a bit."

Ianto sat up from where he'd been lying against the arm of the couch to let Jack sit behind him.

"There, lie back against me," Jack said.

"That is really nice," Ianto said, resting his head on Jack's shoulder. "You like this as well?" Ianto asked, nodding at the television.

"Oh yeah. Gene Kelly had an incredible ass."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Might have known that."

"So do you," Jack said, kissing Ianto's forehead.

Later in the afternoon, after lunch, Gene Kelly, and several Hitchcock's, as an afternoon rain set in, all of it spent with Jack wrapped around him, Ianto decided it was time for a proper nap.

"Want to go to bed?" Ianto suggested, reaching back to play with Jack's hair.

"Sounds good to me," Jack agreed.

Shifting to the bedroom, Ianto all but fell into bed and waited for Jack to curl up beside him and pull him into a hug. "Jack, do you mind if we…."

"I doubt I could mind, Yan, but go on."

"Don't laugh?"

"Never."

"Maybe just…."

"…Cuddle?" Jack guessed.

"Yeah. It's just… I'm still kind of -"

Jack smiled and pressed a finger to Ianto's lips. "I like to cuddle, even without sex involved."

Ianto was quiet for a long while, just snuggling in against Jack's warm, solid body. "Feel safe with you," Ianto murmured.

"I'm glad," Jack whispered, despite his misgivings that he was the last person on earth anyone was _safe_ around.

"Tell me about where you're from?" Ianto asked sleepily.

"Boeshane?"

"Yeah."

"It was beautiful. Beaches, dunes… it was a simple place, despite all the advancements. People always worry that humanity will lose the simple things, but they don't."

"Is it still there?"

"It isn't even there _yet_," Jack said quietly.

"You miss it."

"Yeah, in ways. I don't know that I'd go back though. That was my past. I'm pretty happy here."

"What if your Doctor could take you?"

"He could have. Probably with a dozen 'save-the-universe' detours first, but he definitely could have."

"You'd rather be here?"

"Nowhere else I'd rather be. I've never been any place else that has this – rainy afternoons in bed. I can't imagine anything better."

Ianto just hummed vaguely and Jack could tell he was almost asleep. These were the moments Jack lived for, when there were no weevils or Risen Mittens or alien eyes, just rain tapping on the windows and Ianto's calm heartbeat beside him. It made everything worth it, all the lives and all the deaths and all the being dragged back to life.

As Ianto's breathing grew softer and his limbs heavier, Jack knew he was asleep and it was safe to whisper an "I love you," without scaring the man in his arms. Maybe one day Ianto would be comfortable hearing it awake.


End file.
